About: Staff

Marya Martin, Artistic Director

Internationally acclaimed flutist Marya Martin enjoys a musical career of remarkable breadth and achievement. Gracefully balancing the roles of chamber musician, festival director, soloist, teacher, and supporter of musical institutions, Ms. Martin has performed throughout the world in such halls as London’s Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sydney Opera House, Casals Hall in Tokyo, and other international venues. A native of New Zealand, Ms. Martin studied at Yale university, and shortly thereafter moved to Paris to study with master flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. After winning top prizes in the Naumburg Competition, Munich International Competition, Jean-Pierre Rampal International Competition, and Young Concert Artists International Auditions — all within a two-year period — Ms. Martin returned to the U.S. and has since appeared as a soloist with major orchestras and at leading summer music festivals and chamber music series throughout the country. In 2006, she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland and also received the Ian Mininberg Distinguished Service Award from Yale university. Committed to expanding the flute repertoire, she has commissioned more than twenty new works. She most recently commissioned eight works for flute and piano comprising Eight Visions, an anthology published by Theodore Presser, and recorded them for the Naxos label. She also released a recording dedicated to the music of Eric Ewazen for Albany Records. Ms. Martin is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and has given master classes at universities throughout the U.S. and New Zealand.

Michael Lawrence, Executive Director

Joining BCMF in January 2014, Michael Lawrence has enjoyed a distinguished career in the performing arts. From 2007-14 he served as The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Director of Artistic Planning and Initiatives, working alongside Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han on all CMS programming, recordings, residency activities, touring projects, and radio broadcasts. During his tenure, he oversaw a rapid expansion of touring operations in the United States, as well as Europe, Asia, and South America, more than doubling the number of performances taking place outside of New York each season. Under his direction, CMS instituted a number of new ventures, including teaching and performing projects in Taiwan and Korea; annual residencies in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Athens (Georgia); multiple year residencies at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany and at Wigmore Hall in London; and the Society's first summer home at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Mr. Lawrence served as Director of Artistic Programs at the League of American Orchestras from 2003 to 2007, where he directed conductor and composer programs, including the American Conducting Fellows Program, the National Conducting Institute in partnership with the National Symphony Orchestra, the composer-in-residence program Music Alive! and the national commissioning project, Ford Made in America, and appeared as a guest speaker at conferences and designed and led seminars. As Manager of Artists and Programs for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2003, he programmed classical, pops, parks, and festival concerts. In 1999, he was selected to participate in the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Orchestra Management Fellowship Program, with placements at the Aspen Music Festival, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Virginia Symphony. Mr. Lawrence is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan, where he studied cello performance and English.